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Wednesday, September 17, 2014

You only need to take one glance at my bathroom shelf to see that I am a skincare junkie. I have more cleansers, moisturisers, toners and exfoliators than any woman needs but I can't help it, I'm always hunting for the best. Another (slightly more notable) skincare junkie is is Zoe Foster-Blake and when she announced she was releasing her own skincare line the whole internet got themselves dizzy with excitement.

There are only three things you need to look for in skin care. It should be simple, natural and effective. Zoe claims to have mastered all three with her natural skincare line Go-To Skincare so I didn't hesitate in ordering. I received these products on April 4th which means I've been trialing them for five months and have just used up the products entirely.

Properly Clean Foam Cleanser

First I have to squash the first picky thing about this product. Almost every review I've seen mentions that they 'don't usually like foaming cleansers but this one's great!'

Foaming cleansers are a gel formula that foams while you rub it onto your face, they're almost always created for oily skin and they're quite stripping and drying. This is not a foaming cleanser. It's a water based cleanser that happens to have a foaming pump. Cool? Cool.

Properly Clean claims to be for all skin types and I have to agree. There is nothing stripping or drying about the product (great for dry skin) and it also doesn't promote too much moisture in your skin either (great for oily skin). It just does exactly what it says it will. It properly cleans your skin.

My oily/sensitive skin has kept calm while using Properly Clean, the natural fragrance hasn't caused any irritation and the scent doesn't linger. Properly Clean will suit any skin type and is great for guys too. One pump is enough to cleanse my face and neck.

It doesn't claim to be a make up remover so I never expected it to be. I've seen several reviews that say it will remove make up but in my experience it won't. I tried removing foundation with it and even after two cleanses I could still take more foundation off with my usual make up remover. I tried removing eye make up with it but it couldn't break through my mascara. This isn't a negative point though, it's a cleanser, not a make up remover and I've never found a cleanser that removes make up completely. I recommend removing your make up first and then cleansing your skin.

It's a fantastic product and has a very affordable price tag. I'd definitely recommend it to any of my friends.

Exfoliating Swipies

Exfoliating is both my favourite and least favourite part of skin care. I love fresh, clean skin but the feeling of stripping back layers of healthy skin isn't something that appeals to me. A gentle, non abrasive exfoliator is the perfect solution to this dilemma and Go-To Skincare has hit the nail on the head (or face?) with the Exfoliating Swipies. The active ingredient is lactic acid, one of the most gentle AHA's, and the added aloe vera immediately calms the skin while exfoliating.

The cotton pads make application so easy, just take a pad out of the container and gently swipe it over your face for a minute. Rinse and follow with your cleanser*.

This exfoliator is absolutely incredibly. I love that I don't need to scrub my face and buff away dead skin cells, the lactic acid in this product does it all for you and it's so gentle and mild that you can practically hear birds chirping as you use it.

As opposed to other cleansers that have plastic 'microbeads' that scrub at your skin and then get washed down the drain, these exfoliating swipies don't contribute to lake pollution. Did you know that's actually a thing? Lakes are becoming congested with all those little plastic beads in exfoliators.

Anyway, would I repurchase? Yes, yes, yes. I think I may have found my holy grail exfoliator.

Other products

I won't be purchasing the Very Useful Face Cream or the Exceptionoil because I don't like shea butter (sorry!) and they both contain beeswax. I did purchase the Lips! lip balm and while it has to be said that it tastes amazing (like can someone make this into an edible syrup please?) my lips weren't a fan. I have been using it as a cuticle balm though and it's been working really well however I won't repurchase because of the non-vegan ingredients.

I'm excited to see what other products Go To comes out with. Zoe is always yelling at everyone to use rose hip oil so perhaps releasing her own will be on the cards. I'd also be interested to see what she could do with the idea of a natural tinted moisturiser or sunscreen (no shea butter please).

All in all, great brand, great products and I'm excited to see what's next.

*While a lot of skincare instructions ask that you cleanse then exfoliate, I personally choose and advise that you cleanse after exfoliating, then follow with a moisturiser. This means that any dead skin cells are removed and the new skin is properly cleansed.

Cruelty-free disclaimer:
Go To Skincare does not test on animals. My analysis of both of these products is that they're vegan however the brand also manufactures products that aren't vegan (lanolin, beeswax).

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

It's been a while so I thought I better write you a letter and explain myself before I continue blogging as if nothing ever happened.

I'm a big believer in doing what makes you happy and an even bigger believer that what makes you happy can always change. We grow, we learn and things that used to be so important to us just stop having any significance. New things come in and take over, new interests develop and life starts taking you down a path you'd never even thought about before.

This isn't a break up letter and it's definitely not a goodbye. It's an introduction to who I am now and what new parts of my life I want to share with you. 2014 has been a great year for me, I've learnt so much about life, about the decisions I make and found things I am so passionate about.

At the beginning of the year I merged my two blogs into this all inclusive website. I had started feeling like the beauty content on EasyDress.org wasn't the most interesting thing for me and that I just didn't have time to devote to writing about food on EasyBite.org. The idea was that this blog could be about beauty but also about anything else I cared to write about. I got pretty lost along the way. Every time I'd write a post it had no passion. I'd think of new topics and start to write about them but get bored part way through. The pressure to continue writing like I was writing for EasyDress.org was strong, I didn't want to disappoint myself but even more then that I didn't want to disappoint you by providing mediocre content. I took an unplanned break from blogging. It wasn't my intention, it just happened and I'm sorry I gave you no warning.

With a new focus and a better understanding on what I want to write about I'm ready to write for you again. Beauty is still something I enjoy and you're guaranteed to see plenty of beauty content but there's also a lot more I want to share with you. My lifestyle has moved into living cruelty-free and I will write about this change in more detail later. It means that a lot of brands will no longer have a place on RebeccaLife.com and that's okay, I no longer feel pressure to write about products that may be wonderful to use but have morals I don't believe in behind them.

I hope you understand my absence and I really hope you enjoy the new direction I intend to take this blog. I think you'll have a lot of fun here. As always, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram (@ohrebeccalife) or send me an email at friends@rebeccalife.com.

Welcome!

I am a lifestyle/everything blogger from Australia with a flare for beauty and food. I've been blogging for a decade and have no intention of slowing down. Click the Bio/Contact tab above to read more. If you're feeling like a chat you can find me on@ohrebeccalife on Twitter and Instagram or you can send me an email at friends@rebeccalife.com.